Relationship between contextual knowledge and pedagogical

described by Bennett, Hogarth and Lubben (2003) as context-based, applications-led or as approaches that promote links between science-technology and society (STS). In their review of five studies in different countries where such approaches have been used in teaching learners between 11 and 16 years, Bennett et al. (2003) noted that such teaching approaches stimulate learner interest in science. Learners were found to respond positively in those lessons and in a way developed understanding of scientific concepts (Bennett, et al., 2003). From such reviews it can been inferred that when CK is incorporated in science teaching, teachers’ PK is influenced.

PK refers to the principles and methods of instruction which when referred to science teaching, Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1999) view as the teachers’ capacity to create powerful and diverse learning experiences that connect to what learners know and how they most effectively learn. Dershimer and Kent (1999) present PK as including the management of the classroom, the designing of teaching strategies and the organisation of classroom communication and discourse. In this way, teachers employ powerful pedagogical approaches that engage learners in understanding science meaningfully. Therefore PK is the knowledge concerned with learners, general principles of instruction, classroom management and aims and purposes of science education. The relationship between teachers’ SMK and PK is that SMK helps teachers to design appropriate and dynamic teaching and pedagogy in the classroom (Darling-Hammond, 1997).

Effective pedagogical approaches are outlined in Çimer’s (2007) review of literature on effective science teaching. Çimer identified six main pedagogical principles in terms of which science teachers are urged to elicit and deal with learners’ existing ideas and conceptions, encourage learners to apply new concepts or skills in different contexts, create conducive environments for learner participation, promote cooperative learning among learners, provide continuous assessment for corrective feedback and most importantly involve learners in inquiry. These principles are in line with the social constructivist teaching approaches and culturally-responsive pedagogies which have already been explored in the previous sections. The next section shows how some of these principles

have been employed by teachers in their teaching and the impact they have had on learners’ understanding.

Different researchers have suggested different pedagogical strategies to help science teachers determine learners’ preconceived ideas. These include stating lesson goals at the beginning, involving learners in question-and-answer sessions, brainstorming, debating and involving learners in scientific investigations (Hewson and Hewson, 1988; Abrams, 1998; Littledyke, 1998). In the question-and-answer method, teachers’ use of open-ended questions can stimulate learners to expose the informal and distorted preconceptions they develop through their everyday experiences (Garnett & Tobin, 1988; Yip, 1998; Amos, 2002).

In this regard, Bell and Cowie (2001) suggested that teachers should create a positive supportive learning environment which stimulates learners to feel confident enough to disclose their existing ideas and thoughts. As a result, science teachers are discouraged from presenting information directly from textbooks or providing demonstrations and activities without assisting learners to draw patterns or similarities between these activities and what they already know (Smith & Anderson, 1984; Driver, Leach, Millar & Scott, 1996). Discovery-oriented lesson presentations need to specifically relate to learners’ prior knowledge which then helps learners to change their conceptions (Abrams, 1998). According to Abrams, learners are reluctant to change their conceptions until they experience dissatisfaction which may force them to develop plausible new concepts and see the relevance of new knowledge in different contexts. In addition, conducting investigations or inquiry have been found to strongly challenge learners’ existing ideas especially when they achieve unexpected results or find that others disagree with their interpretations or realise that their current ideas cannot solve the problem at hand (Goodrum, Hackling & Rennie, 2002).

Other pedagogical practices such as simulations and practical work can help learners change their non-scientific conceptions (Peat & Fernandez, 2000). This includes providing learners with animations related to the concepts to be taught followed by class discussions

which may possibly expose learners’ misconceptions, which can then be dealt with at class level.

Teachers are supposed to present challenging concepts to learners who bring different experiences and conceptions to the classroom (Shulman, 1986), science teachers included. Therefore effective engagement of learners in science classrooms requires teachers to address the learners’ diverse experiences which include the range of languages, cultures, exceptionalities, learning styles, talents and intelligences that demand an equally rich and varied repertoire of teaching strategies (Darling-Hammond & Sclan, 1996). Good teaching demands that science teachers should understand not only the learners’ learning styles but also learners’ cultural, social and political backgrounds which teachers encounter in the science classroom (Lambert, 1986). To this end, teachers can develop appropriate instructional strategies that move some of the learners’ unscientific ideas and conceptions towards scientific ones (Järväla & Niemivitra, 1999; Hipkins et al., 2002).

When teachers take into account and build on learners’ existing ideas, experiences and values (Hipkins et al 2002), science teaching becomes more inclusive. Science teachers can draw effective teaching strategies from learners’ diversity and present their lessons in a way that appeals to their learners’ socio-cultural upbringing. However, in a 2005 report on learning to teach in the knowledge society by the World Bank, Moreno pointed out that trainee and experienced teachers often have low expectations of poor non-white learners, and as a result the trainee teachers are not keen to work in diverse settings and interact with learners and parents from such settings. In this way, diversity is viewed as a problem, instead of viewing it as a resource to allow an effective teaching and learning process (Barton, 2001; Lemons-Smith & Williams, 2009).

In a study reviewing professional growth among pre-service and beginning teachers, Kagan (1992) found out that during the initial years, one of the main goals of the teachers is to gain knowledge about their learners. However, the knowledge must be integrated and transformed into usable knowledge for teaching (Davis, 2004; Linn & Hsi, 2000) which requires strong pedagogical competencies. In this way, pre-service teachers begin to develop PCK which some researchers strongly believe is only possible when knowledge

about learners is integrated into the teaching process (Borko & Putnam, 1996; Grossman, 1990; Magnusson et al., 1999; Shulman, 1986). CK requires science teachers to devise teaching materials and teaching strategies that stimulate, excite, motivate, empower and meaningfully engage the learners. Learners thus have the means for comparison between their indigenous and scientific ways of doing or understanding things.

Leonard, Barnes-Johnson, Dantley and Kimber (2010) carried out research to determine elementary pre-service teachers’ pedagogical skills when teaching science inquiry in urban contexts. One of the participant teachers engaged learners in an authentic science inquiry lesson, but resorted to telling and explaining the concepts half-way through the lesson. Learners were neither allowed to manipulate data and models nor draw their own conclusions. Further investigation by the researchers revealed that the pre-service teacher lacked appropriate scientific concepts. The study therefore suggests that pre-service teachers’ ability to engage learners in science inquiry is dependent on their adequacy in SMK (Osisioma & Moscovici, 2008). Teacher incorporation of CK into their teaching requires them to deepen their SMK so that they can fully employ inquiry teaching approaches. When interviewed later, the teacher in the above study, however, acknowledged the importance of teaching science inquiry in authentic ways that begin with learners’ prior knowledge, interests or experiences. It should, however, be noted that science instruction is often textbook-oriented and very little attention is given to science inquiry (Crawford, 2007; Haberman, 2010) particularly in urban schools where the majority of learners come from predominantly poor backgrounds (Buxton, 2006; Seiler, 2001).

The above discussions indicate that CK plays an important role in influencing the teachers’ choice of teaching methods and activities during science teaching and learning. Failure by science teachers to employ social constructivist pedagogical strategies may result in learners failing to learn science concepts meaningfully. This is because their alternative conceptual frameworks are challenged and would then act as barriers to the acquisition of new concepts. Science teachers should therefore employ participatory methodologies which include involving learners in hands-on inquiry among other strategies, thereby facilitating learners’ understanding of science concepts.

2.5.3 Relationship between contextual knowledge and science teaching orientations